Transcripts
1. Intro: Hey everyone, I am Crystal
joy and welcome to my class. I'm so happy you're here. In this workshop. I'm going to show you
how to be your own muse. It's easy to look
around and think that other people are more
creative than you are, or easier for them
to tell a story. But that is never the case. We are all creative and
have a story to tell, no matter how mundane or
small we think it is. If you look deep
within yourself, you will find the
narratives that have been screaming to get out. But we get so
distracted with what everyone else is
doing to take notice, the secret is simpler
than you realize. Inspiration lies in the joys, pains, and daily frustrations
of our own lives. The secret is you, you are your own muse. In this two-part workshop, I will provide lectures and exercises that will help you
write a narrative story. The class will
circle around being your own views and finding
the stories within. The second part, I will
show you how to take that story and drop it into a
script format with actions, dialogue, and characters
that have a clear, concise, and simple premise. In this course, you will
learn how to tap into the self and consciousness
for stories and inspiration. How to write creative text, how to overcome writer's block. How to build
creative confidence, and the importance
of your voice, experiences and emotions
for creative inspiration. This class is for creative writing
enthusiasts with or without former experience. Amateur and professional
writers, storytellers, artists, or creators willing
to explore new methods. So who is Crystal joy? I received my BA in journalism from Loyola
University Chicago. I started my acting
career in theatre than blossomed into feature
films, commercials, in TV. I've produced, written and acted in ten projects over
the past five years, including international
productions in Africa. I found a way to combine my international travels with
my love of storytelling. Making room to not only work as a multi hyphenate creator, but as the founder of
my production company, Blue Room productions,
along that journey, I've developed tools and
practices to help me navigate the storytelling
journey by taking my personal experiences and using them for characters
and story lines. And now I'm sharing those
practices with you. Have a pen and paper ready as this two-part workshop will
evoke emotions from you to create a story arc
your audience can relate with motivating you
to look within. Understand that the greatest
artistic choice you can ever make is using
yourself as your own muse.
2. 3 Reasons: So there are three
reasons why being your own views is the greatest artistic choice you can make. Number one, it prevents you from comparing
yourself to other people. It can be very easy to look
at what other people are doing and believed they
have some sort of formula. That they have something
you don't a secret sauce. They may have access to
resources you don't have yet, but they are never more special or more
talented than you. They had the same thing you
have, which is themselves. If you focus on your stuff, you will be surprised
at how much of an inspiration you
can be to yourself. Especially when you decide to
take all of your problems, joys and pains, and
make it into art. Now comparison is under
the umbrella of jealousy. And my definition of jealousy is when you want to trade
places with someone else. Now there's nothing wrong
with feeling jealous because it's simply telling you you want the same thing too. It's also a part of
the human experience, but it's what you do with those emotions that
matter the most. When I realized I had the
power to shift my life, I used all of my emotional
indicators as inspired action to get me the things I wanted that led me
towards fulfillment. The second reason why being your own muse is your
greatest artistic choice is because it curves a desire to be a copycat of what other
people are creating. Now let's be honest. Artists inspire other artists. I'm inspired by so many people and I've made work based
on that inspiration. Of course, with social media, everything is on
display and it's hard not to see what other
people are working on. But you have to be
careful when you try to take someone else's art
and make it your own, there is a reason why you have
the experiences you have. They are completely
unique to you. And no one can tell a
story in the way that you can because they don't
have your perspective. Now as a writer,
it is your job to find different angles at
work best for your story. And if you practice that
in your personal life, seeing a problem from
many different angles, it can be incredibly
beneficial in your professional
endeavors because that's what storytelling
is all about. Angles, which is why I believe being a copycat is
boring and unnecessary. There's too much within
you to be inspired by. The third reason being
your own muse is your greatest artistic
choice is because you realize the greatest asset
to your story is yourself. You are your greatest palette and nobody knows you
better than you. A lot of our best stories
are the ones we are the most ashamed and
embarrassed to speak up. And that's because
we think we are the only ones that have gone
through that situation. Human existence shows that
nothing under the sun is new. The expression of
it may be unique. But someone else on this planet has probably been through
the same things you have. All of my characters
have pieces of myself, or I use moments that have
happened to me and I give it to my character's
past and present. That's how I can
relate to the story, relate to my audience, and give my characters and arc. We all have stuff. And that's what makes
us the most dynamic. That's what people want to see. They want to see
reflections of themselves. And no, they are not alone.
3. What Makes You Angry?: There are particular
conditions you should pay attention to when it comes
to finding inspiration. Number one, look at the things that make you angry. Nowadays. It probably doesn't take much to find something
to be mad about, especially with the current
climate we are living in. Understand there
are many emotions attached to fear, frustration, eagerness, confusion,
hopelessness, anxiety, depression, to name a few. For me, my stories begin from a place of curiosity,
a question. It always starts from
a place of interest. So when it comes
to your own life, what are the things
you wish you can change would have
no control over. What are your current
circumstances like if you could
change some results, what would the outcome be? As we go into this exercise? Take notice of your emotions
and what you're projecting. Exercise number one, think of a recent situation you went through that took
your power away. Describe its events that led to it and what happened
in the midst of it, but only describe the situation.
4. Emotions : Pay attention to how your body reacts when it comes
to your emotions. As I said earlier, it doesn't take a lot to find
something to be mad about. But we all have an
emotional threshold. A cat at what we can and
cannot handle our emotions, our roadmaps of the
things we really want, an alert system. So when something is wrong
with our physical bodies, so try not to see your
emotions as good or bad, except it as a part of the human experience and relate to them as cues and indicators. Let's use jealousy
as an example. It's a very human
emotion that we have all experienced at
some point in our lives. Let's say you're
jealous of someone getting into a relationship. It simply means you
want a partner to. There could be a
particular place in the body where that
emotion is felt the most. Understand the mind and the
body are very much connected. If you're overthinking
and you're stressed, you might feel
that in your head. If there's something
that you want to get off of your chest, something you want to say, you might feel it
in your throat. Just get curious about how you feel without judging
yourself for it. What I like to do
to make sense of my emotions is journal. I emotionally dump it all out. And I tried to give myself compassion for
whatever comes up. As you can see, our bodies are always
communicating to us. A lot of our emotions
live in our head, which leads to anxiety
and overthinking. And the list can honestly go on. But imagine all of the
emotions that live in your body that
never get released. When that energy doesn't
get moved around, it causes discomfort or disease, which is simply
dis-ease in the body. So with this
information in mind, let's go into our next exercise. Exercise number two. From the first exercise, write only about how you felt
and how your body reacted. Did you have a knot
in your throat? Does your body feel worn
down from exhaustion or anxiety only expand on your
emotions in your body.
5. Dialouge: Number three, pay attention
to what you say to others, in which you say to yourself. Dialogue reveals our
views of the world, the way we feel
about other people, and how we think
about ourselves. We can use words as
tools to manipulate, encourage, trigger, and
Tice, and interrogate. Language is also silence. It's what we don't say in
our physical reactions. When talking to someone else. It rarely sounds like what
we hear in TV or film. Because how characters
talk to each other is what those
characters want to say. And it's also the way their
characters were written. No one talks like
that in real life. When thinking of your
own personal lives, do you know anyone that says everything that is on their
minds all of the time. What has helped me as a
script writer is listening to how people talk to one
another in their every day. When I'm on the train in a
cafe or just out and about, I pay attention to how
people speak to one another. I also observe verbal and
nonverbal body language too. We interrupt each other, cut each other off, finish each other's
sentences at ums and ahs. I have observed
English language. It's very easy to misinterpret. That is because we treat
it very black and white. Language has many different
meanings depending on tone, delivery and intention. How we speak to ourselves, and how we express those
thoughts physically. Exercise number three, from a situation
you wrote earlier, how did you talk to
the other person? How did you talk to yourself? Remember, a lot of our
language is reaction. How did you respond? What went through your mind? Was there something you
wanted to say in didn't
6. Enviorment: Number four, Pay attention
to your environment. Sometimes our environment is the biggest reason we
are so aggravated, especially if it is
not cultivated in a way to bring us
peace or inspiration. Who we live with, the dog, the kids, the faucet that keeps
dripping in the bathroom. Look around your home. Is there a lot of sunlight? What are the colors? All of these things affect
our mood and day-to-day. These are the spaces we
spent a lot of our time in. So what is important to fill your environment with
things that bring inspiration,
creativity, and peace. Environment also means
the people that are in your space and who you spend
most of your time with. How do you feel around them? Do they encourage
love and acceptance? Environment is also your
community and neighborhood. The need to feel
safe and packs how we interact with the
people in our communities. If you live in an area
where there's a lot of poverty, racism, and crime, those things can trigger you
into depression and anxiety, affect your perspective and how you choose to exist
in those spaces. Also remember that work has a significant impact
on your mood. Pre pandemic. A lot of people that
had nine to five spent their time in an office, which meant you were
probably seeing your coworkers more than
your family and friends. This all affects
our mental health, perspective and self-esteem. So with this
information in mind, let's go into our next exercise. Exercise number four. Write down what your environment
sounded and looked like. Where your neighbors
blaring music, where cars honking outside
with the space cluttered. What were the
colors in the room? Were you outside in
the car at the park? Think of all of those things.
7. Happy: Number five, take notice of
the moments you feel happy. This can be the hardest
to pay attention to when everything around you
seems to be falling apart. All of the perceived
mistakes, delays, setbacks are magnified and
it feels like your wins are so little compared to the things that are
not going your way. In the midst of hard days, there's always a joy, even if it's a little bit. Now, what if you really
can't find something to make you happy or
feel grateful for. Are you able to change
your perspective? There has been many times in my life where I was
looking for something to feel good about a way to
focus on the bigger picture. And I struggled in doing that. After some self-reflection,
I realized how my perspective was the biggest
thing I needed to work on. If you can't change
or find something to feel happy in regards
to your situation, then change the mental
framework around it. Because that joy is what
keeps us looking ahead. I'm always happy when
I'm about to eat. I don't care if it's a snack
or a full course meal. I'm also my happiest
when I allow my inner child to come out
and play, be more creative. Dream and imagine. That's when all of
my ideas come to me. I'm having fun and I exist in environments that
encourage that. So with this
information in mind, let's go into our next exercise. Exercise number five. With this final exercise, look at your story. Was there any redemption? Was there a joyful
moment that happened? It could be something
as simple as having a glass of wine
at the end of the day, dancing to your favorite song. What did that joyful
moment feel and look like? Did your mind change about the situation in the
midst of your joy? How did you respond
to your environment? How did your perspective help?
9. Final Thoughts: Life is not a linear experience. Your creative methods
shouldn't be either. When finding ways
to tell your story, try to think as outside
of the box as you can. Your greatest narratives are in the darkest spaces of yourself. The parts that hurt the most, the places that you are
most scared to look at, the disappointments,
the unhealed wounds. That is where your gems are. When I look at my
scripts, many times, I feel as though I have
written a diary entry, but that's how much of
myself I use as inspiration. People want to watch characters they recognize and relate to. And no one can write
your experiences better than you can. As I said earlier, write about what hurts the most. The things you are most
embarrassed about, because that is what
people want to see. Nothing under the sun is new. The expression of it
will be unique to you. But we all have experienced
the same themes. Trail, loss, grief,
love, hate, death. And the list can go on. Understand that your
story will always be king and your competition
will never be anyone else. It will always be your focus. I want you to look over
everything you have written. You have just created what probably feels like
a journal entry. But it's actually the first step in writing your
first short film. In part two of this workshop, I will show you how to construct your short film by using the
materials you already have. I'll see you there.
Blu Room Production, Independent Film Production Company
